Bob, at 10:30 on May 29 1995, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BL> The basis of copyright is originality; not whether copyright
BL> has been claimed previously.

BG> I really should look into this. I mentioned it some months ago,
BG> but never followed it through. I do know that there was a bit
BG> of a stink about these two old cows demanding royalties from
BG> movies and TV shows where that song had been sung though. Got a
BG> bit of publicity too, but I don't remember much about it. 

BL> It may be that the song was copyrighted, and the copyright was
BL> inherited. It gets convoluted if the owner sells copyright to a
BL> company which then goes bankrupt and someone else buys the 
BL> company assets. This makes the 50-year limit arguable.

I don't even know for sure if musical works come under the same (or
similar) classifications as books or written works, but I'd imagine so.  I
do know that his copyrights will be inherited by me, but I don't think that
my own heirs have any claim on them if I die.  I am only speaking from
hearsay, so don't take that as being read.

BL> It happened when I was working for the consumer controls company.

Is there anywhere that you HAVEN'T worked (say Crown Street) ?  |-)

BL> When it went bankrupt, the patents were not transferred to the 
BL> new company, and an American company (Sunbeam) sent us a letter of
BL> demand when we tried to use the old patents. The bastards just 
BL> patented right over the top, and there was a real stir for a while.

Patents are considerably different from copyrights though.

BL> I realise that copyright and patents are different, but the 

That'll teach me to read the entire message first, won't it?

BL> difference blurs if a company buys copyright. It's truly amazing 
BL> how nasty things turn if a large company wants something you've got.

Quite often it depends on who has the deepest pockets too.

BG> As a bit of a pirat^H^H^H^H^Hevaluation-type of person, you can
BG> go and fuck yourself now if you like. |-) 

BL> I'd prefer not to, just now, but thank you for the kind offer.

Sorry, I don't issue rainchecks, only Wet-Checks .

Regards, Bill
@EOT:

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